modmachine: (Default)
Hᴇx - ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ([personal profile] modmachine) wrote in [community profile] cityofhex2016-10-29 08:29 pm

WEEK 01

Somewhere, a gear slips.

It's sunset on Halloween night; a night of celebration for the dead and the once-dead, a night of wariness for those bound closely to the spirits. Everything seems to move more freely on this night; the sensation of boundaries crossed is almost palpable.

A handful of those native to the city will certainly feel such. Between one step and the next, there's a feeling of pushing against something, something you didn't know was there before - and it gives. Physically, nothing changes, but you now know something is wrong, as though waking from a dream. Something has slipped, and you remember. Hajime will feel the sensation most keenly, as the things he recalls lack the sharp details of a demon's memory.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Sixth, the New Arrivals all also find themselves taking steps - the first thing the group will become aware of in the city is being shoved out the door of what seems to be some kind of broken down factory. The alley they step into is wide enough to get a truck through, but shows little sign of human habitation; only a cardboard box, half-dissolved by rain, and a few bits of stray glass from broken bottles can be seen. Their phones and any other communication devices they possess all beep loudly, once, after the door slams shut.

Except... What door? When they next blink, while there's still a vaguely door-like outline, the concrete wall has changed; where the door was, there's a metal sheet, machined with faint circular patterns, seamlessly integrated with the concrete. Banging a fist on it produces a solid sound, as though the metal was at least an inch thick. Though there is a feeling of being watched in the alleyway, no one will approach until they leave it, not even a passerby walking the not-quite-yet-dark street at either end. Until they step out of the alley, it's as though they don't exist.

And there's a good amount of foot traffic passing the alleyway by. Though it tends towards people in a college student age bracket and people in a vaguely street punk sort of fashion with odd accessories, neither is an absolute rule by any rule. Following the flow of traffic leads to a run-down park that's mostly skatepark with a few picnic tables and a small greenspace that's been taken over for a dancefloor. The tables are covered in odd junk and there seems to be some trading going on.

Haseo and Ryoji will both have better knowledge of what the place is, and have standing invitations to the party that's starting up as the Sin-Eater trading post winds down.

Elsewhere: On a beach bordering the bay, a group of changelings holds a bonfire. Periodically, someone throws a papercraft skull into it with extreme prejudice; almost all the skulls are inhuman in some way, though the craftmanship of the paper-mache makes it difficult to tell at times. Those in the know have to be aware that such an overt display won't pass unnoticed by the Autumn King... But the tall and built woman who seems to be the center of the festivities shows no fear in the season of fear.

In the Residential District and even a few places in the Sixth, trick-or-treaters are as much a feature as they are every year. Children in costume run about with little concern for who they approach, while their parents maintain appropriate wariness from sidewalks or cars. A small group of children, however, galivants with no supervision - and there is something uncanny about the trio. It's best to give them a treat if they approach you, else you might find yourself the recipient of a cruel trick in return. Unlike the other trick-or-treaters, they're out and about well past midnight; nearly to dawn, in fact. When the sky begins to lighten, however, all three stop immediately in the middle of what they're doing and - with the sound of mad, fey giggling - bolt off in the direction of the farming district.

The prompts from the Test Drive also remain available for interaction.

The rest of the week:

Weather forecast: Though Halloween is a clear night, clouds steadily roll in for most of the rest of the week, hanging overcast in the sky with occasional breaks and sprinkles of rain slotted in. Mornings are foggy and chill, warming slightly in the afternoons but not varying all too much in temperature. Frost has yet to set in, though, making it possible to sleep outside if you have adequate cover, but it won't be very fun.

Moon Phase: The 30th was a New Moon, so Halloween's sky is decorated by a fingernail crescent that grows to almost a half moon throughout the week.

The Clean-Up: After Halloween, of course, everything must slowly go back to normal. Most folks clean up their own messes throughout the first morning of November, but shards of gutted and thrown pumpkins can be found most everywhere, and at the park where the Sin-Eaters partied, a lone Security Officer inspects the aftermath for signs of unusual activity. Aside from the remains of pumpkins, which are mostly left to rot, decorations vanish over the course of the week and all but a few are gone by Thursday morning.

The College: Though enrollment for the fall semester is over, the deadlines for winter are fast approaching, and there are a number of tables set up in a large area to entice prospective students. Most of them are manned by undergraduates, but the English program's table is staffed most of the time by a single Tired Professor with mousy brown hair. Occasionally, the Tech Student at the next table over takes pity on the man, bringing him a hot-chocolate to help warm his fingers.

[Feel free to use this post as a jumping-off point for logs and interactions! You are also welcome to post your own logs to the community as needed. Mods will be available on plurk and discord to answer questions, and can be hailed for exploration logs off this post.]
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-01 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
She hangs back every once in a while, not far enough to make one of the adults that have accepted her into their group look for her worriedly, but far enough that nobody will turn towards her and talk to her, to look at the odd gears in the walls.

...Some of them look like they're just free and out in the open and - a quick glance around - if they belong to someone the person sure isn't watching her right now, at least not by what she can see. Nobody seems to be watching her. There are a couple of trick-and-treaters in all directions, but they are all preoccupied otherwise. A few adults too, and the guy from earlier today with the Big Secret - a photographer, huh? She has absolutely no interest in him knowing that her and that cat are the same, so she'll treat him like she doesn't know him. Him and the other adults seem to not be looking either, though. She isn't thinking further than that at the moment, about that there might be other guarding mechanisms less obvious to her.

She quickly leans down to pick up a pebble from the side of a building and swings around to in one smooth motion toss it between the gears. Maybe that will do something with them. ...And then a few more, if nothing happens. Just for good measure.
chalicejoker: (Creeper)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-03 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
Now she's messing with the infrastructure. Hajime approaches, though it's just a little quicker, a little faster, a little more where the hell did he come from than a normal human's approach might have been. He's too quiet. "You shouldn't be doing that," he says quietly, though he's just casually standing around with the camera and not actually looking directly at her.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-03 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
She recognizes the kind of approach, even though she notices it too late and jumps a bit once she does - dropping what additional pebbles might have been in her hand - and thus refrains from looking directly at him, either, instead throwing a glance at the group which she was with, that is currently walking up to the next door.

"Why?"

It's clear enough that she will heed the advice for the moment, at least until she has heard the reasoning behind it.
chalicejoker: (Standard Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-04 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
"It's going to attract the wrong sorts of attention." He supposes the attention he is very casually paying now qualifies. "Dangerous attention." There's a pause. "Are you a stigmatic?"
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-04 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
Under normal circumstances, she would ask more before accepting such an assessment, but considering their last encounter and what he said (and especially what he didn't say) about himself, she assumes that this has to be in some way related to it and relents fairly easily.

Whatever he's running from, she has no interest in attracting it's attention. She would rather not attract attention, period.

"A what?"
chalicejoker: (Skeptical)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-05 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Someone who brushed up against something they shouldn't, can see the infrastructure. Who knows the truth of things." Hajime tilts his head to one side as he debates exactly how much he wants to let on here. "Comes with visions, a certain understanding..."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-05 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
"...So other people can't see those wheels?"

Assuming that that is what he means by infrastructure. She has no idea about the other things. If she'd developed precog abilities, she would have noticed, right?
chalicejoker: (Standard Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-05 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"They can't. No one's really meant to." And that she can, well, that complicates things. Hajime wonders, not for the first time, why he can't seem to leave small human children getting into mischief alone. "Seeing it is nothing but trouble."
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-05 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Why?"

She wants to ask if that is why he's in trouble, but she can't because that would give away that she's a a cat ... and then stops at that idea.

She needs to go back in her cat body later and see what those wheels smell like. They are mechanic, and he smells like there's something weird and mechanic inside him. Though the question would then be how he managed to put something like that into his body.
chalicejoker: (Casual)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-05 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Kids. Always with the questioning..."It's part of something very large and impossibly powerful. You'd do well to ignore it." He wishes he could, just live a normal boring human life, but no, no, that's not his lot in life right now.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-05 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"Will it care that I'm ignoring it, or will it want to see me gone if it finds out that I can see it even if I ignore it?"

She's looking at him, not at the gears, now.
chalicejoker: (Casual)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-05 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ignoring it is...safer than some of the alternatives." Which is kind of a non-answer if you think about it. "Messing with it will definitely attract attention. The worst kind." He's looking at her now, as well. Messing with infrastructure is a good way to call an angel down on one's head, and he's not strong enough to fight one to a full defeat. Not as he is now.
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-05 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"What attention?"

She stares up at him with challenge in her eyes. C'mon, you'll have to be more specific if you want to be stern about this.
chalicejoker: (Mopey)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-07 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Attention from something impossibly powerful." Hajime seems rather calm about this, though he does glance over one shoulder as though discussing this might bring something out of the woodwork. "It wouldn't hesitate to wipe you from existence if it decided you annoyed it enough." He knows; he'd had jobs like that often enough before his Fall.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-07 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
So something like one of the megakons. Never piss off a dragon, and in the end it's of minor importance if they're actually owned by one or not.

"Does it own this city?"
chalicejoker: (Bored)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-09 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Hajime nods. "Though most are unaware of it."
runs: (forward and ahead)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-09 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
That doesn't seem to be too strange to her.

"And why do you know about it?"

Because it is hunting him. And she didn't want to be involved with it, but she can see it, and she doesn't like that, so she kind of ...is, probably. Or will be, eventually. Things don't tend to just leave you alone.
chalicejoker: (Standard Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-10 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Let's just say I've crossed it." Vague answers are the safest ones, right?
runs: (forward and ahead)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-10 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"But you aren't a stigmatic. What are you then?" If he gives her vague answers she'll ask specific questions. She can still ask him all the things, after all.
chalicejoker: (Contemplative)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-12 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Something that got away." Oh, he can keep right on being vague. At least, he'll try.
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-12 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"But you don't look like that."

Even though he smells like he could look like it. She squints at him, trying to see through ...some kind of illusion? Or did he build a think around himself?
chalicejoker: (Creeper)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-12 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"If I couldn't stay hidden, I'd be dead," Hajime replies smoothly. Like he's going to explain the intricacies of his Cover.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-12 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
That's no answer, but a fair enough reply. She's witnessed the consequences of not staying under the radar one time too often.

"Do you still look like a person without the illusion?"
chalicejoker: (Uncertain)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-11-13 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Depends on what you mean by a person." Hajime shrugs.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-11-13 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a good question. "Like ...normal living beings who have brains to think with." AIs aren't persons, sorry. If you need to steal people's bodies to be a physical person, you become an unperson as soon as you become physical.

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-13 20:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-13 20:29 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-14 02:10 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-14 12:27 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-16 01:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-16 08:01 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-17 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-17 09:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-19 03:31 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-19 07:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-20 04:43 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-20 08:04 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-21 02:34 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-21 22:02 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-22 04:05 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-22 17:58 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] chalicejoker - 2016-11-23 04:23 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] runs - 2016-11-23 09:52 (UTC) - Expand